Curfew, state of alert, after Iraqi shrine explosion
Iraq-USA, Politics, 2/23/2006

A senior American official accused al-Qaida organization in Iraq led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi of responsibility for blowing up the dome of Imam Ali al-Hadi shiite shrine in Samara on Wednesday.

The coordinator of Iraq's policy at the US State Department, James Jeffery, justified the accusations by earlier calls made by al-Zarqawi to attack Shiite targets in Iraq. He renewed that these attacks aim at provoking a civil war. He added that his country will spare no efforts to chase the criminals.

Iraqi Sunni and Shiite leaders agreed that the aim of the attack against the two Imams Ali al-Hadi and his son Hassan al-Askari in Sameraa is to start a civil war based on sectarianism.

The two Iraqi ministries of defense and interior at the interim government announced maximum alert in the country with the attempt to control the explosion of conditions following the attack against Imam Ali shrine in Samara.

A joint statement quoted by the media called for imposing curfew that will start as from today morning in Baghdad and all Iraqi governments with putting all members of the armed forces and security at the ministries of defense and the interior in a state of alert.

Tough Iraqi security measures are being taken to prevent an attempt for what is described as the war of mosques in Iraq after the Iraqi Islamic party announced that more than 100 Sunni mosques were attacked after the explosion of Shiite mosque, some by blowing up or opening fire, while others by the occupation forces.

In Baghdad, six persons were killed at least three of them were Sunni Imams (clerics) while a fourth Imam was kidnapped during clashes during the attack against Sunni mosques in various areas of the capitals.

Number of Sunni mosques which were attacked reached 27 while scores of mosques were attacked in various parts of Iraq.

Members of the militias of al-Mahdi army which follows the Shiite Clergy Muqtada al-Sadr were deployed in positions in the capital Baghdad and in the Shiite cities in the news. News were rumored on clashes in Basra and other cities with the Sunni.

Also in Basra, the police said that gunmen wearing police uniforms kidnapped 11 Sunni detainees, two Egyptians and nine Iraqis, from a prison in the city which is of a Shiite majority and killed them later.

The attackers came in a procession of 16 cars to al-Mina prison and the 11 prisoners were found dead later with bullet traces on their bodies.

Gunmen also attacked several Sunni mosques in Basra and also clashed with guards of one office for "the Sunni Islamic Iraqi party."

Hundreds of thousands of Shiite in Iraq took the streets in angry demonstrations in various parts of the country following the attack on Ali al-Hadi shrine which is considered one of the holiest shrines for the Shiite in the world.

Previous Stories:
  Wide Arab, international condemnation for shrine attack   (2/23/2006)
  Iraqi minister survives bomb, a day of violence   (2/22/2006)
  Explosion in Samara destroys a dome   (2/22/2006)
  US ambassador in Iraq warns against two sects handling security missions in Iraq   (2/21/2006)
  US on Abu Ghraib prison photographs; Guantanamo detainee report   (2/16/2006)

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